Cover Story: Thrillers

Here are our librarians' picks:

Mortal Chaos

Matt Dickinson

A butterfly startles a rabbit. Two boys decide to skip school and go to mess around in the woods. A pilot leaves late for work. These are seemingly harmless and unconnected events but in fact each has an impact on the others and they in turn set off a chain of events that suck in more and more people, including a Japanese climber on Everest and a hungry young boy in Africa as they rush towards a shocking and dramatic conclusion. Jumping between countries and places with increasingly breakneck speed, this is an exciting and unpredictable story.

9780192757135 Oxford University Press 2012

The Messenger Bird

Ruth Eastham

Nathan's father has been arrested and accused of revealing state secrets. Facing a lifetime in prison he enlists his son to get the evidence that will clear his name. Racing against time, Nathan has to follow a trail of mysterious clues that lead him to the story of codebreaking at Bletchley Park and the devastating air raid on Coventry during the Second World War. As this exciting story develops the reader has to solve the trail of clues along with Nathan.

9781407124612 Scholastic 2012

The Invisible Assassin

Jim Eldridge

Nineteen year-old Press Officer Jake is sent on a routine assignment covering a demonstration against building on an ancient site. But he uncovers something much more sinister and disturbing going on and decides to investigate further. Then someone tries to push him in front of a moving train. Jake has to fight for his life to escape a deadly web of intrigue, conspiracy and murder. Hang on tightly and enjoy the ride in a thriller that really thrills.

9781408817193 Bloomsbury 2012

Legend

Marie Lu

Roll up, roll up fans of the Hunger Games! Legend is a new dystopian thriller, set in ‘The Republic’, a country at war. 15 year old rich girl June is being groomed to be the next military star of the Republic.15 year old Day is born into poverty and crime and is rapidly becoming the Republic’s most wanted criminal. These two should never have met, but circumstances throw them together. Caught in a cat and mouse game, June and Day start to discover there are shocking truths out there to be discovered. Truths about their country and themselves…

9780141339603 Razorbill 2012

Kidnap

Chris Powling

Masked gunmen kidnap Adam and Daisy and their friend Leo and whisk them away to a mysterious tower block. If their wealthy parents don’t pay a ransom they are dead. How can they escape? And can they trust Leo, or is he not all he seems? An entertaining quick fire thriller

9781408142608 A & C Black 2011

The Adjusters

Andrew Taylor

When Henry Ward moves to Newton something just doesn’t seem right. Everything is so perfect. All the students at his new school seem to be both geniuses and great athletes. And everyone is so happy all the time. Henry decides to investigate. But the Corporation that runs Newton doesn’t like snoopers and they have some pretty drastic ways of making sure that Henry and his friends fit in. This is an enthralling thriller with some real shocks.

9781409540533 Usborne 2012